Colombo's Hat Trick Paces Field Hockey Past Geneseo, 5-3

Montclair, NJ (9/7/08) – Sophomore midfielder Diana Colombo (Westhampton, NJ / Rancocas Valley) recorded her first career hat trick while classmateJessica Murphy (West Long Branch, NJ / Shore Regional)
collected a pair of assists as Montclair State knocked off
SUNY-Geneseo, 5-3 in the MSU / William Paterson Invitational at Sprague
Field on Sunday afternoon.

Melissa Flaherty (Fishkill, NY / John Jay) and Rebecca Dobiesz (Old Bridge, NJ / Old Bridge) each added a goal as the Red Hawks went 2-0 in the invitational and are off to a 3-0 start for the sixth consecutive season.

Sophomore forward Michelle Milkovich (Vestal, NY / Vestal)
had a goal and two assists for the Blue Knights, who fell to 1-3 on the
year with their second loss in the tournament. Geneseo was beaten by
William Paterson, 6-0 on Saturday.

Colombo, who had
just one goal in her freshman campaign, made it five in the last two
games as she helped Montclair State recover from an early 1-0 deficit.
Milkovich fed Stephanie Honsinger (Baldwinsville, NY / Baker)
for a goal 3:45 into the contest to give Geneseo the quick 1-0
advantage but MSU would tie the game 16 minutes later when Colombo
banged home a pass from Murphy three yards in front of the cage to
start a four-goal run by the Red Hawks.

Dobiesz put MSU
ahead at 30:28 tipping in a shot by Flaherty and the lead was extended
to 3-1 at the break when Colombo finished off a 3-on-1 break with 1:07
remaining before the break. Junior Justine DiPaolo (Lanoka Harbor, NJ / Lacey Township) registered the assist.

In the second half, Megan Pietrunti (Middletown, NJ / Red Bank Catholic)
fired a shot from the top of the circle off a penalty corner that
Colombo redirected to make the score 4-1 just over five minutes into
the half.

But the Blue Knights battled back scoring twice in a 1:17 span. Stephanie Masionet (Pine Bush, NY / Pine Bush) got the first goal deflecting in Milkovich’s shot at 45:28 and Milkovich’s second of the season cut the MSU lead to 4-3.

However, Flaherty tipped in a shot from the left side by Murphy with 3:35 to play to seal the game for the Red Hawks.